Chief Executive Elon Musk of SpaceX revealed on Friday during the conference that his space launch company is ready to return its rockets for flight in December. Despite the Falcon 9 rocket burst last Sept. 1, SpaceX CEO Musk is confident that same mistake won't happen again.
Reuters reported that the Falcon 9 accident has ruined more than $200 million communications satellite of Israeli company and grounded the flight project fleet of the Falcon 9 for the second time in the last 14 months.
The cause of the accident was speculated to be the issues on fueling system that inadvertently produced solid oxygen inside the rocket's upper stage tank. The oxygen would then react with a carbon composite bottle containing liquid helium that sits inside the oxygen tank. This would have triggered the explosion, leading to millions of damage.
SpaceX CEO Musk said that the company has reached the bottom of the problem. SpaceX CEO Musk also added that the problem had never been encountered in any rocketry history.
According to One America News Network, SpaceX CEO Musk did not specify what mission they would launch next month. Musk also didn't not confirm that Kennedy Space Center in Florida will be the new launch pad SpaceX or from its West Coast site at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California.
However, south of Kennedy Space Center at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station is the SpaceX's primary launch pad, which was damaged during the Sept. 1 Falcon 9 accident. SpaceX has declined to release any details on the extent of the accident damage.
Last Friday, NASA and Orbital ATK said that the Orbital's next flight in the International Space Station would use the heavier-lift Atlas 5 rocket that was made by United Launch Alliance, rather than Orbital's Antares booster. This switch will allow NASA to fly an extra 330 kg or 660 pounds of cargo to the station.
The company has already built up more than 70 missions that worth more than $10 billion in the last few years.
